Pros & Cons of Self Project Managing Your Renovation
Paying a professional Project Manager Vs Self Managing
Want to know whether you are up to the job of Project Managing your renovation? This week we are exploring the pros and cons of self managing your build.
Renovations are expensive beasts and saving money where you can is often needed to make the most of your budget. You only have to watch a few episodes of Grand Designs to see that self Project Managing is a popular option but is it a sensible move? Just how difficult can it be?
It certainly sounds straight forward to take control yourself but its incredibly time consuming to manage a project to a good standard.
You must be confident you have the knowledge, experience and time to make all the decisions required, patience and skills to undertake this demanding role.
What is Project Management?
The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities (a list of tasks) to meet a specific goal within a finite budget and timeframe.
It involves planning executing and controlling tasks to turn ideas into deliverables, ensuring that you complete on time, within budget and to agreed standards.
What are the legal requirements?
There is no legal requirement to have a professional project manager for renovations but it’s important to be aware that if you decide to project manage yourself, you will still need a principal designer and principal and prinicial contractor under The Building Safety Act (updated in April 2023). This applies to any building project, involving more than one contractor regardless of your plans.
If you decided to act as the principal building contractaor you are responsible for preparing health & safety documentation, notifying the Health and Safety Executive (if your project is notifiable) plus generally manage all health and safety issues on site including site set up and securing the site. You will also need to manage Building Control site inspections and any comments/actions that result.
What Does Project Managing Involve?
Ensuring the project runs smoothly
Managing site Health & Safety
Hiring & managing trades
Providing contracts & checking trade insurance
Handling building regulations
Ordering materials and equipment
Checking work is completed to required specifications
Dealing and resolving issues
Keeping the site clean, tidy & secure
*This is not an exhaustive list
PROS of Self Managing
· Lower upfront costs
You can save up to 20% of build cost by not employing a build contractor
· More control of daily decisions
You will have control of your subcontractors and suppliers ensuring that each party delivers what your want
Feeling more connected
You will be responsible for every decision so will have total knowledge of build happenings at all time
Tailored Experience
You have ultimate control (and accountability) for when things happen. You can dictate the pace which can be useful if funds dry up or you need a break.
CONS of Self Managing
Higher chance of making avoidable mistakes
You don’t know what you don’t know and the chances are you will make many avoidable mistakes.
Longer build time
Mains contractors/project managers have an established and trusted trade & materials supply chain, not having this undoubtedly slows the build process.
You will need specialist insurance
Insurance that covers you managing your build is an additional expense you must allow for.
You will need to be available 24/7
Decisions will need to be made fast and often before you realise. They are also likely to need to be made with speed so be prepared for frequent interruptions.
Where do homeowners go wrong?
Honestly, in many ways but the most common we see are :
setting arbitrary deadlines e.g. Christmas, without working through tasks, trade availabity and budget to see whether they are realistic
thinking the money they have is how much the project will cost. Setting a comprehensive budget based on knowledge rather than guess work is the single biggest way to ensure you have an accurate budget. A quantity surveyor will help with this.
Not setting success criteria. Finishing the project is not a measure, all projects will (eventually) end but that doesn’t automatically make them successful.
Not understanding the order tasks need to occur in or the dependencies they have.
Grand Designs often provides excellent examples of why you should use a professional Project Manager
My Background
Before retraining as an Interior Designer I worked for 16 years as a Project Manager on a diverse number of projects from moving a 50 year old school into a new building and overseeing the full interior fit out, managing the move of St Peters Hospice to a temporary location during its rebuild and renovation. I also worked on Finance projects, worked for Avon & Somerset Police, and for NHS and private treatment centres. My favourite projects have always involved buildings because of their transformative impact on the end users.
We work with private clients across the South West, including Bath, Bristol, the Cotswolds, Dorset, Somerset Devon and Cornwall delivering full-service interior design from concept through to completion.
If you are planning a project and would like to explore working together, you can learn more about our approach on our Services page or get in touch below.